Over the long years I had spent running this hotel, I had received plenty of young guests.
The hotel’s standards for choosing its guests were special, after all.
But,--!
there had never been a guest who touched the old memories within me.
“......”
“Master.”
“......Ah.”
The voice from behind me snapped me back to my senses.
“Welcome, dear guest.”
A practiced business smile and a courteous greeting.
Then, as always, I quickly checked the guest’s condition.
‘The environment of her dimension is rather poor.’
The clothes the guest was wearing would not have been out of place if one called them rags.
On top of that, her hair was so greasy it was impossible to tell when it had last been washed, and filthy water seemed to flow from her head to her toes.
Whether it was because she had not been eating properly, her nutritional state was also dreadful.
Even a Beggars' Sect beggar from a Murim dimension might be better off than this.
‘A child like this bears the fate of a dimension, does she?’
The Dimensional Hotel’s method for selecting guests was simple.
The lifeform with the strongest fate in each dimension.
This category called fate included various types.
A fate of destruction, like the Blood Demon’s; a fate of domination, like the Heavenly Demon’s; or a fate of salvation, like the Martial Alliance Leader’s.
In that sense, the fact that this guest bore the strongest fate could be interpreted in two ways.
One was that, even if she looked like a beggar, her potential was stronger than anyone else’s.
And the other was that there were very few humans left in that dimension.
Usually, in cases like this, the latter was overwhelmingly more likely......
‘It would be difficult to judge hastily.’
The details were something I would learn later by speaking with her.
For now, I had to invite the guest inside and then......
Creeeeeak......
The time it took me to greet her and finish assessing her was around three seconds.
However, in that brief span, the new guest had assumed a clear posture of wariness toward me.
In other words,she had started closing the door.
“Please wait a moment, dear guest!”
It was not common for guests to leave the moment they arrived, but it did happen from time to time.
If an unfamiliar place suddenly unfolded before them, it was only natural for them to be wary.
Had she been an ordinary guest, I would have let her go back.
But a guest who had moved the minute hand by ten minutes was a different matter.
The dimensional clock did not move significantly for most people.
Even when I had received the Blood Demon as a guest, only ten seconds had passed at most.
The fact that the dimensional clock had moved that much was proof that this child was special.
Therefore,‘I have to catch her!’
I seized the doorknob as the door was halfway closed and rapidly poured out an explanation to the guest.
“My name is Ryu Hwi-jae, and I am the master of the Dimensional Hotel. I sincerely welcome you as a guest of our hotel.”
“......”
“I can guess why you are wary, but would you first hear me out? If you wish, I will send you back at any time.”
The words that I would send her back at any time.
Only after hearing those words did the strength in the guest’s hand, which had been pulling the door, slowly loosen.
However, that was only loosening her grip slightly.
Her hand was still on the doorknob, so the hint of wariness remained.
First, I had to open the door to her heart.
I took my hand off the door and stepped back a pace or two.
“I have no intention of doing you any harm. As you can see, I carry no weapons of any kind.”
The fact that I could summon a holy sword on Excalibur’s level just by wishing for it was a secret.
“You may leave at any time, but if you leave our hotel just like this, you will never be able to return. Since this is a special hotel unlike anything you could see elsewhere, I would not like you to miss this opportunity.”
The fact that, if I issued her a ticket, she could come and go whenever she wished was also a secret for now.
“Even so, will you return?”
If I lined up every guest I had welcomed until now, they would more than fill the distance from Earth to the moon.
That long-honed instinct of mine told me.
“......I’ll just...... listen.”
Done.
But......
“Yes. Then, may I guide you from somewhere more comfortable?”
“......Here.”
I had not fully won her over yet.
***
The fact that she had secured an escape route showed me she had a cautious nature.
I did not know whether her environment had made her that way or whether she had been born that way.
Not that it mattered to me.
“No. 100.”
“Yes. Here it is.”
No. 100, who had read my intention, brought over a pamphlet from the counter.
I received the pamphlet and handed it to the child, then began the pitch.
“Our Dimensional Hotel’s operating policy is ‘to provide our guests with the finest rest.’ In accordance with that, the hotel is equipped with every kind of auxiliary facility you can imagine.”
For those who liked alcohol, there was a luxury tavern.
For those who liked exercise, there was a premium personal training studio.
For those who liked musicals, there was a top-class opera house inside this hotel where a prima donna (Clone No. 139) performed.
If something did not exist, that only meant it had not been created yet.
“Naturally, the guest rooms are also prepared at the highest standard.”
As the pamphlet turned, it projected a hologram of the full view of a guest room into the air.
The room alone was roughly one hundred pyeong in size, with full room service.
Personal attendants (clones in the 500 series) were prepared to wait on the guest.
But if that were all, I would have to return the word “highest.”
“The room provided to you can alter its internal environment however you wish by reflecting your needs. Naturally, this is an option provided free of charge.”
The guests who came to the Dimensional Hotel were all different.
There were humans, aberrations, demonfolk, and unknown alien races.
With such a wide variety of guests, would they be satisfied simply because I offered them a room that was the best by my own standards?
That would be a truly arrogant thought.
Thus, I had layered higher-dimensional magic upon every guest room.
If one wished, the room could become a ryokan. It could become a medieval castle, or it could even become outer space without gravity.
“For guests who do not know how to use this option, we recommend the automatic alteration option. It is an option that reads the guest’s memories and subconscious psychology to alter the room’s structure. In your case......”
Snap.
When I snapped my fingers, the shape of the hologram changed.
The vast, spacious room took the form of a small studio apartment......?
“......”
I think I failed.
‘Why is it a half-collapsed studio apartment?’
Stone dust crumbled down, and the walls were cracked. If one was not careful, they might end up sleeping forever in there.
‘When was the last time I maintained this?’
Overall hotel management had been automated through magic and clones.
But that had been a long time ago.
So long ago that I could barely remember it.
If that much time had passed, there was a chance that minor problems had arisen.
I wiped the cold sweat running down my back and hurriedly operated the hologram.
“My apologies, dear guest. There seems to have been some error in the demonstration......”
“Can I...... sleep in that room?”
“Pardon?”
My eyes had been on the hologram for a moment, so I had not noticed,but the guest’s eyes had turned wistful.
‘The magic didn’t malfunction.’
Of course it had not.
No matter how leisurely I ran the hotel, I did not do what needed to be done carelessly.
It was simply that the place the guest truly wanted was that place.
“It is possible. However, it would be dangerous as it is, so some minor repairs will be needed.”
I left only the traces of damage and made the interior sturdy, then cleared away the dust and stone powder that would be bad for the lungs.
To clear away some of the gloomy, dreary atmosphere, I also lifted the dark clouds slightly.
“Phew.”
Once I finished adjusting it to that point, the guest let go of the doorknob.
Done.
“How is it?”
“Is that...... the sun?”
“The form of the sun varies by dimension, but for now, I have made it in a shape familiar to me.”
“......It sparkles.”
Was this her first time seeing the sun?
Well, if her world was splendidly going to ruin, it was not all that strange that she had never seen the sun even once.
For some people, being greeted by radiant sunlight might be a lifelong wish.
“Our hotel is currently holding a first-stay event. For first-time guests, one night is free.”
One night at such a perfect hotel was free!
There had never been a guest who failed to be swayed by a benefit like this.
“By a stay...... do you mean I spend one day here?”
The guest stepped away from the door and approached, and I smiled gently as I answered.
“Yes, free of charge. Ah, there is no need to worry about the flow of time in reality. Time in our hotel flows differently from time in each dimension.”
This was a service for guests who felt burdened by the idea of disappearing from their dimension for a full day just because they wanted to rest here.
If the time ratio was adjusted, the lodging fee would change, but this too was not something I needed to tell her yet.
“......One day.”
The guest clenched her hands tightly, hesitated, then took one more step.
“I want to...... sleep here for one day.”
I smiled faintly.
“As you wish.”
***
After completing the check-in procedure, I left the lobby to No. 100 as usual and personally guided the guest to her room.
During that time, the guest’s eyes moved without rest as she looked around at the other guests passing by and the hotel’s many facilities.
Matching the guest’s curiosity, I added a few more explanations.
“There are many other guests in this hotel. Some are good people, while others are the opposite. If any of them behave in a threatening manner, please call me.”
“If I call you, will you come right away?”
“Yes. I will come at any time.”
This hotel had a round-the-clock surveillance system laid throughout it.
If someone harmed another guest when that guest did not want it, they would be escorted away immediately.
Of course, harm inflicted by mutual consent was not touched.
“How do I call you?”
“Just call my name quietly. If you do not remember my name, you may call me manager, innkeeper, Proprietor, Master, or whatever comes to mind. Language is merely wrapping paper, after all.”
What I read was the intention to call me, so I did not care what they called me.
Though if someone called me something too outrageous, a separate interview would be arranged.
“Then, mister.”
......I did say she could call me anything, but I did not expect “mister.”
“Yes, is there something you need?”
“Um, is this kind of thing...... possible too?”
“Whatever it may be, at our hotel, we provide any and all services that our guests......”
Any and all, any and all......
Haa.
If there was any fault of mine, it was that I had read the guest’s thoughts out of habit.
Since I already knew what she was going to say, I did not want to continue.
But, but.
Was she not an unprecedented major guest?
“Any and all...... services you desire.”
“Since everything...... is possible......”
“Yes, yes......”
“Then.”
Please do not say it.
I do not want to do that, of all things.
Despite my desperate wish, the guest’s mouth did not stop.
“While I’m staying here, mister, please be my dad.”
It was not that I had never done roleplay.
Over the long years that had passed beyond several thousand, I had done all manner of things to relieve my boredom.
Perhaps it would be faster to find something I had not done.
However,“Dear guest, there is one rule you must keep while staying at our hotel that I forgot to mention.”
“A rule?”
“Yes. What that rule is, is that you must not get on my bad side.”
If someone got on my bad side, whether the guest was a child or an old person, I brought down the hammer without mercy.
“In that sense, allow me to say this again. If there is anything I can help you with......”
“You said earlier you could do anything......”
The new guest came to a halt and stared at me.
“Can’t you do it...... just for one day?”
-Mister, from today......
The past overlaid itself upon the present.
“......Haa.”
This was something I truly could not refuse.